1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to ultrasound systems, and more particularly to an ultrasound system and a method of forming ultrasound images.
2. Background Art
An ultrasound system has become an important and popular diagnostic tool due to its non-invasive and non-destructive nature. Modern high-performance ultrasound imaging diagnostic systems and techniques are commonly used to produce two- or three-dimensional images of internal features of patients.
The ultrasound system generally uses a probe comprising an array of transducer elements to transmit and receive ultrasound signals. The ultrasound system forms an image of human internal tissues by electrically exciting transducer elements to generate ultrasound signals that travel into the body. Echoes reflected from tissues and organs return to the transducer elements and are converted into electrical signals, which are amplified and processed to produce an ultrasound image data.
The ultrasound system provides an M-mode (motion mode) image periodically showing the motion of a target object. The ultrasound system first displays a B-mode image of the target object and then displays bio-information of the target object, which corresponds to an M-mode line set on the B-mode image, over the elapse of time.
In the conventional ultrasound system, however, a probe should be moved to observe different portions of a target object. Thus, there are problems in that B-mode and M-mode images for different portions of the target object cannot be provided at the same time. Further, it takes a long time to form the B-mode and M-mode images for different portions of the target object.